Electrical Engineering Department Sends Its Grads Out Into the World

When Chris Dunbar attended CSULB, Electrical Engineering Chair Henry Yeh was a new professor and the ECS Building didn’t yet exist. “It doesn’t seem very long ago, but it was 37 years,” said Dunbar, Associate Principal Director of the Aerospace Corp.

The recipient of the department’s Distinguished Alumnus Award, Dunbar told graduates they’re living in a time of immense change for engineering. “”You guys are living in the most challenging and revolutionary time in engineering. Thirty-seven years goes by in the blink of an eye,” said Dunbar. “If you’re going to do something for 37 years, you better be doing something you enjoy.”

Dunbar said when he graduated with his BSEE in 1981, he didn’t know what to do. After working for three other companies, he joined the Aerospace Corp. and became a subject-matter expert in control systems. He now supervises 130 engineers.

“The thing that keeps you going is the same thing that got you into engineering – your curiosity,” he told students at the Electrical Engineering Department’s Graduation Celebration.

At the celebration, department officials also took a moment to remember longtime Professor Bahram Shahian, who passed away earlier this year, with an award in his honor. “Dr. Shahian was a very beloved professor,” said Professor Anastasios Chassiakos. “This award is very special.”

The recipient of the Shahian Award was his student Crystal Pham (BSEE). Professor Shahian’s son and daughter were in attendance at the event.

Among other awards, Jordan Hsu (BSEE) received the Boi Tran Award, in memory of the late electrical engineering lecturer, who passed away suddenly in 2016. James Donahue (BSEE) received the Gerald Roski Award.